Erigen

No online was the worst one for me. We have to trade Pokemon the same way cavemen did.

Loved the direct, far better than the last one in my opinion.
I did not expect Grave Seasons to come to Switch. To anyone interested, it's similar to Stardew Valley, but the twist is that everytime you create a new save file, the game randomly picks one of the npcs to be a serial killer. The relationships and romances you form can change the story as well, even potentially unknowingly romance the murderer.

Another dark, cozy farming game that is said to come to Switch, but not featured in the direct is called Grimshire. About a farming town full of anthropomophic characters where you can choose to be a carnivore or herbivore. Blight has corrupted the land making it difficult to grow food and hunt meat, causing tensions between the two. Due to the scarcity of food, characters can starve to death, but carnivores (including yourself) could potentially eat the herbivores (including yourself).

Megami Tensei and Dragon Quest V: What are we? Chopped liver?

Yeah, I know. Both games had almost no presence outside Japan for a long time, making Pokemon the defacto monster-catching champion.
Imagine how different monster-catching games would be today if Megami Tensei did get a wide release in the west at that time.

What are some of these random selections? No one forgot Jynx and Munchlax. Stakataka and the Tapus are some of the most viable in competitive play. Shedinja's Wonder Guard is the envy of all Pokemon and trainers. Dewott as part of the starter evolution line is guaranteed a place in memory.

Charizard the OG for sure. Can't beat that simple yet iconic design.

Place your bets which starter's final evolution will be a bodybuilder.

Finally, free healthcare for the house roaches.

Mr. Toriyama still giving new contributions despite years after his passing. Thank you. 🥲

Virtually know next to nothing about Gen 9, but I'll vote for Koraidon cause it's better than the other one featured on the box art.

Winners:
Gen 1 - Charizard
Gen 2 - Umbreon
Gen 3 - Rayquaza
Gen 4 - Lucario
Gen 5 - Chandelure
Gen 6 - Greninja
Gen 7 - Mimikyu
Gen 8 - Corviknight
Gen 9 - Ceruledge

After this, there should be a final poll for all the winners to determine the ultimate popularity champion.

@Pillowpants I'm 100% certain his experience with all those games are either let's plays or watching all the cutscenes on youtube.

Mario Kart 8: You thought I was finished, didn't ya? Think again!

This is where my Pokemon journey ended. Wasn't keen on the unimpressive graphics and lack of innovation and most devastating to me was my favorite being cut from the Pokedex. Urshifu does look cool though.

Winners:
Gen 1 - Charizard
Gen 2 - Umbreon
Gen 3 - Rayquaza
Gen 4 - Lucario
Gen 5 - Chandelure
Gen 6 - Greninja
Gen 7 - Mimikyu
Gen 8 - Corviknight

Wind Waker was my very first which then led me to Animal Crossing's in-game NES titles.

Spoiler alert!

Leon will survive to be used again in a future game. And it was aliens all along.

@cvrator ...a fun video game. 🤥

@rvcolem1 I'm not talking about games as a whole. I'm talking about these two Square-Enix products. One sold ten million copies and had multiple guest appearances in other games while the other Square-Enix buried and would prefer everyone forget. To showcase the sheer contrast between the two games. Even worse is that Forspoken was made by Square-Enix themselves.

I can't believe sexy intriguing anime android girls sold this much, and Forspoken's grungy dirty sarcastic over-bearing snarky punk girl had entire boxes of unsold copies tossed into landfills.

Your move, Square-Enix.

@Scollurio As much as I want to because of how cheap it is, I'm still unsure. I bought Scott Pilgrim and TMNT Shredder's Revenge years ago, but lost interest after a few levels with little enthusiasm to return. I got excited about Marvel Cosmic Invasion, but ended up not buying it because I might quickly lose interest. Maybe I just "out-grew" the genre?

As much as I love Kommo-o, I have to give my vote to Incineroar.

Sun/Moon had the starter's final evolutions leaked way before release date, and the genuine concern people had online that Litten would become another fire/fighting type upon seeing Incineroar's design was entertaining.

Winners:
Gen 1 - Charizard
Gen 2 - Umbreon
Gen 3 - Rayquaza
Gen 4 - Lucario
Gen 5 - Chandelure
Gen 6 - Greninja
Gen 7 - Mimikyu

So tempting to get this cause of the low price and the many free updates and content added, but I haven't been enjoying beat'em ups as much as I used to. So, I'm still hesitant.

I'm calling it now. Greninja wins.
Remember when Froakie was revealed and everyone assumed the final evolution is gonna be ugly as heck, only to get one of the coolest looking designs in series history. So good that Sakurai chose and began work on the character for Smash WiiU/3DS before X/Y was even released

Winners:
Gen 1 - Charizard
Gen 2 - Umbreon
Gen 3 - Rayquaza
Gen 4 - Lucario
Gen 5 - Chandelure
Gen 6 - Greninja

Thank you. The slow down was noticable when exiting the hotel and back to the island.

Gen V, the generation when the Pokemon started to look over-designed, but still have plenty of fan favorites like; Samurott, Haxorus, Volcarona, Chandelure and Zoroark. But Zekrom is a legendary dragon and is ALL-BLACK! Perfect for Pokemon edgelords.

Winners:
Gen 1 - Charizard
Gen 2 - Umbreon
Gen 3 - Rayquaza
Gen 4 - Lucario
Gen 5 - Chandelure

Can't go wrong with Lucario. Cool design, competitively viable, Smash Bros fighter and that one Pokemon movie where Lucario had a main role was really good.

Winners:
Gen 1 - Charizard
Gen 2 - Umbreon
Gen 3 - Rayquaza
Gen 4 - Lucario

Cradily! Always had an affinity towards grass types and Cradily was and still is my all-time favorite.

Winners so far are:
Gen 1 - Charizard
Gen 2 - Umbreon
Gen 3 - Rayquaza

@Duncanballs Dinosaur Jesus came first obviously.

"Utterly terrible"? I'm pretty sure he said it "sold like dog s***", but for appropriation I suppose.

@PikaPhantom cause it's a very buggy game. 😏

@RoboCube Sticker Star had combat that you literally had no incentive to do that was already easy enough for a toddler. Lacked any complexity. Had so little story. Gameplay that was the barest of bones. Bland designs and visuals. Empty world with the most hollow npc's.

Makes perfect sense Sticker Star would be their favorite, cause it requires virtually no effort, skill and dept to play.

If they make a sequel, they definitely need to add a wrestling birdman, a detective mystery on a train and angry women that force you to say "I love you" a hundred times.

My favorites are in Gen 3, but you can't go wrong with Charizard who opened children's imagination of owning a miniature, kid-friendly designed dragon.

If this game was included in the list of best Paper Mario games, it would easily beat more than two-thirds of the actual Paper Mario titles.

The series got a new lease on life because of the netflix animation, good rereleases of older titles, indies constantly wanting to emulate it and the many cameos it made through other games like Vampire Survivor, Dead Cells and Smash Bros.

A series like this should not be allowed to wallow in the dark.

The game keeps on giving and I love it! 🥲

30 years of Pikachu

None of the covers feature Pikachu.

@RustyShakleford No one has ever complained about Zelda's title and you know it. While Elliot raised eyebrows the second the name was revealed.

I understand the title and character name may be a bit more unique to the Japanese, but it's far too mundane a name in the west for a jrpg fantasy. The same reason why Final Fantasy VI's Tina was changed to Terra in the west.

@PerfectFrost Engine may not be the right word, I don't know how to describe it. Style? System? I dunno. I'd like to see more games like these but with an entirely different genre or at least a different art style.

@Friendly Only because Various Daylife was already a trash mobile game that failed spectacularly, then quickly re-assembled into a console game. It doesn't count. >_<

@Rhaoulos Good, but "Elliot of the Wild" and "Tears of the Elliot" won multiple game of the year awards.

@SuperEndriu
I've already said it in a previous article about the game, but I swear the title makes me think of an early 90's movie about a runaway kid who goes on an adventure to find his lost dog.

I understand the title and character name may be a bit more unique to Japanese players, but it's far too mundane a name in the west for a fantasy adventure.

@Max_the_German
"Triangle Fantasy" is very vague, but vague enough that it may pique some curiosity. I feel like combining a common name with one if the most common words for titles makes the game very unremarkable. Calling it "The Legend of Elliot" or "The Tales of Elliot" feels more suitable.

@DiamondJim HD-2D still looks beautiful, but they're all looking near identical. I wish Square-Enix would try using the engine with an art style that is vastly different from previous HD-2D games.

They're really gonna stick with that title, huh? Best of luck to them.

All-around slow week for software, caused by the lack of big titles.

@Arawn93
I knew about the first game, I had no idea that a sequel even existed until I saw it's low placement on the UK charts.

I fainted and tumbled down the stairs when I read that this had not sold a million units.

Bought it instead of Dispatch and I'm smitten. It's the paper Mario combat with clever dialogue and likable characters that truly make the game shine.

I Hate This Place...

@Itsashame
Exactly, it has it's own completely different charm, so mentioning it lacks the charm of Animal Crossing is just wrong.

It is still pretty much considered a niche game. I fully get why people think it's nothing special. It's the type of game that scratches a gaming itch that a player wouldn't even know they had until they try it. That's why the people who like it, adore it, because it's a unique experience that so far no other company big or indie alike has attempted to replicate.

@Uncle_Franklin
You don't know what you are talking about. Charm is pretty much the only thing this game has. You will not find a review where charm isn't mentioned. In fact, that's why the game is difficult to recommend to a new player because the game's charm and quirks are it's selling point.

Comparing Tomodachi Life and Animal Crossing is the equivalent of that one ign reviewer who kept comparing Shin Megami Tensei V to Persona 5.

Direct was far more than any fan expected. Cozy, but chaotic. Just the type of game for me, and at just ten days after my birthday.

So lucky I didn't get this. Had it on wishlist when announced, but my hesitation at a game where you just sit and watch, made me go buy Escape from Ever After instead.